Strawbery Banke Museum February & Summer Camps

Children ages 5-17 can have fun with history in the vacation and summer camps at Strawbery Banke!

The past is the playground for active, small-group programs led by talented museum educators. On the 10-acre outdoor history museum site, kids explore behind the scenes, try real skills in authentic settings and work closely with professional crafters, archaeologists, character role-players, curators and historians.

THEMED WEEKS

Life at Sea Week

June 25 – 29, 2018

The Gundalow Company and Strawbery Banke partner for two exciting maritime adventure camps. Participants will spend time on land and sea exploring and experiencing the lives of sailors for over 200 years.

Anchors Aweigh Ages 6 – 8 (Rising 1st – 3rd graders) Register now!
It’s time to set sail on a maritime journey through the past. Spend time onboard the gundalow, Piscataqua, and try out different jobs on board a ship. Learn to tie knots, raise the sails and swab the decks. Try out crafts, games and hands-on activities to discover what it was like to be a sailor (or a pirate) long ago. We are looking for new recruits. Join us for fun on land and sea. Gundalow Company members also receive the member price for this camp.

All Hands On Deck Ages 9 – 12 (Rising 4th – 7th graders) Register now!
Set sail on board the Gundalow, Piscataqua, and try manning the sails, navigating, steering and much more! Then become immersed in an historical seaport neighborhood. Cook a ship’s meal, develop a cure for scurvy, join a maritime trade simulation, visit a sea captain’s house, and engage in a variety of antique arts and nautical games. Don’t miss the boat! Gundalow Company members also receive the member price for this camp.

Living History Week

July 16 – 20, 2018

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel through time and live in the past? Now is your chance! Dress in period costumes, get a new identity, hone your acting skills and see what it was like to be a child long ago.

History Alive Ages 6 – 9 (Rising 1st – 4th graders) Register now!
Perfect for youngsters who enjoy using their imaginations and participating in dress-up and pretend play. History Alive encourages kids to compare and contrast life in different eras of the past. Kids receive a new character and costume from a different time period each day. After a brief, interactive lesson about that era, they engage in games and activities particular to each century in period gardens and buildings.

History in Play : Growing Up Colonial Ages 9 – 12 (Rising 4th– 7th graders) Register now!
Learn about George Washington’s time by living it. Dress in costumes and use reproduction toys and tools in a historical setting to discover what life was like for children in the colonial era. Develop improvisation and acting techniques while you roleplay in the museum’s buildings and interact with visitors. The camp will culminate with the opportunity to perform in character for friends and family.

Survivor Strawbery Banke Week

July 23 – 27, 2018

Were the “good old days” really better? This week we tackle the question of survival and how people cured disease, withstood natural disasters, wars and many different adversities.

Nature’s HealersAges 6 – 9 (Rising 1st – 4th graders) Register now!
Explore the natural world to discover how plants helped to heal common ailments of the past. Investigate different plants each day through science experiments, cooking with herbs and creating herbal remedies. At the end of the week, campers will have a handmade herbarium, the start of an herb garden and a first aid kit of herbal cures to take home and share with friends and family.

Survival SkillsAges 9 – 12 (Rising 4th – 7th graders) Register now!
Antibiotics, indoor plumbing, running water…How did people manage without the technological and medical advances of today? During the week, campers will examine some of the struggles that people faced at different eras in history from death and disease to slavery, fires and natural disasters. Activities include experimentation and problem solving, scavenger hunts, historical simulations and walking excursions around Portsmouth. Find out if you have what it takes to survive the past!

Jr. Interpreters: Beating the OddsAges 12+ (Rising 7th graders – 12th graders) Register now!
Get into the minds of people living hundreds of years ago and discover how they tried to prevent tragedy. Create herbal tinctures and salves to stave off disease. Investigate the 18th-century’s most dangerous jobs. Develop recipes from early health food movements. Jr. Interpreter camps culminate with a chance to share your discoveries with museum visitors.

All Play and No Work Week

July 30 – August 3, 2018

This week we debunk the myth that all people did in the past was work. Join us for an exploration of how people entertained themselves (sometimes while working) with a variety of sports, games, toys and crafts.

Past Times in Times Past Ages 6 – 9 (Rising 1st – 4th graders) Register now!
Different cultures have contributed to American cuisines and customs throughout time. This week we will explore how cultural contributions from enslaved Africans to Native Americans and a variety of immigrant groups have influenced entertainments and past times that we enjoy today. Campers will make their own toys, learn new games, engage in storytelling, dancing, art and music to connect the past to the present. At the end of the week, they will have a variety of new playthings to take home.

Blast to the Past: Sports and GamesAges 9 – 12 (Rising 4th – 7th graders) Register now!
From cards and board games to sports and games of skill, campers will discover how people have entertained themselves from ancient to modern times. In addition to learning dozens of new games, participants will have time each day to make some of their own to take home and share with family and friends. The week will culminate with “Camp Olympics” where campers not only learn the history of this international competition; they can compete in the activities they have practiced throughout the week.

Make and Create Week

August 6 – 10, 2018

Technology and new inventions are changing our lives everyday. This week we explore the world at the turn of the 20th century and investigate many of the well-known (and not so well-known) innovations that wowed people living 100 years ago.

Bright IdeasAges 6 – 9 (Rising 1st – 4th graders) Register now!
Budding inventors and curious kids will explore some of the most famous inventors and inventions of the early 20th-century. From planes and motor cars to Teddy bears, and crayons; our youngest campers will not only make their own versions of these innovations, they will also participate in activities to discover how questions can be answered through experimentation. Does freezing food change the taste? What makes a helicopter fly? What affects how fast a car goes? By the end of the week, kids will have answers to these questions and many more!

Daring DiscoveriesAges 9 – 12 (Rising 4th – 7th graders) Register now!
Develop a variety of skills as you learn to re-create the handmade crafts, inventions and pastimes of days gone by. Star in a silent film, cook a Depression-era meal, take a ride in a model-A Ford, roll up your sleeves to work in a 1940s Victory Garden, learn to Paint like Picasso and lend your voice to a radio show recording. At the end of the week, campers take home a bounty of their own projects, entertaining family and friends with new-found skills and one-of-a-kind playthings.

Sneak Peek Week

August 13 – 17, 2018

For kids who want to be in the know, this week youngsters get to see the Museum the way most visitors do not. Go behind the scenes with museum professionals, explore the museum in a new way and get the inside scoop.

House Hunters Ages 6 – 9 (Rising 1st – 4th graders) Register now!
Get the inside scoop about how houses are built and then explore the public and private spaces in a historical house to see how people lived hundreds of years ago. Investigate kitchens by cooking food over an open hearth and participating in old-fashioned house work. Learn the uses of a parlor through the games and crafts that took place there. Investigate the attics and basements that were used for theatrical performances and essential food production. Each day also includes the opportunity to use imagination as campers use a variety of materials to create buildings for their own towns and villages.

Building DetectivesAges 9 – 12 (Rising 4th – 7th graders) Register now!
You know how to read a mystery book, but can you read and solve the mysteries of a building? Discover how buildings can teach us about the people who lived long ago. Go behind the scenes to explore attics and basements in historic homes, build a model of an 18th-century post-and-beam house, venture on an architectural scavenger hunt and unlock the secrets of Strawbery Banke’s unrestored homes.

Jr. Interpreters: Myth BustersAges 12- 17 (Rising 7th graders – 12th graders) Register now!
We have all heard that most women died in childbirth or people were much shorter in the past than they are today. How did these ideas get started and are they really true? Work alongside the museum’s historians, curators and archaeologists to discover how material remains of the past can dispel some of history’s most prevalent myths. Jr. Interpreter camps culminate with a chance to share your discoveries with museum visitors.

Living History Week 2

August 20 – 24, 2018

Back by popular demand, we are offering another week of living history for campers ages 6 – 12. With different time periods and different characters, kids can do one or both sessions of Living History Week.

History AliveAges 6 – 9 (Rising 1st – 4th graders) Register now!
Perfect for youngsters who enjoy using their imaginations and participating in dress-up and pretend play. History Alive encourages kids to compare and contrast life in different eras of the past. Kids receive a new character and costume from a different time period each day. After a brief, interactive lesson about that era, they engage in games and activities particular to each century in period gardens and buildings.

History in Play : Growing Up Victorian Ages 9 – 12 (Rising 4th – 7th graders) Register now!
Try living in the time of Tom Sawyer or the Little Women. Dress in costumes and use reproduction toys and tools in a historical setting to discover what life was like for children in the Victorian Era. Develop improvisation and acting techniques while you roleplay in the museum’s buildings and interact with visitors. The camp will culminate with the opportunity to perform in character for friends and family.

STORIES ALIVE

July 9 – 13, 2018

Stories Alive! Optimists and Activists Ages 5 – 7 (Rising K – 2nd graders) Register now!
Our youngest campers venture into the past using books as their time machine! Each day of this popular program begins with a lively picture book which sets the scene for expeditions through Strawbery Banke’s gardens, houses and grounds. Meet roleplaying characters, play games and make historic crafts during this fast-paced, three-hour morning program. Make homemade butter, create fossils, go bird watching, learn sea chanteys and more! At the end of an action-packed week, campers will bring home their own picture book filled with artwork, recipes and great memories. This camp runs 9:00am – 12:00pm.

JR ROLEPLAYERS

July 9 – July 20, 2018 (Monday – Friday)Jr. Roleplayers: The Industrial Era, 1820 – 1870Ages 12 – 17 (Rising 7th – 12th graders) Register now!
Times change but adolescents have always played a part in history. Teens of today can make the past come to life by becoming an historic roleplayer and using the museum’s houses and grounds as their stage. Participants will learn theatrical techniques, dress in full costume, use old-fashioned tools and materials, and engage in historical research methods to learn how to portray a person from another time. After successful completion of the program, many Jr. Roleplayers are invited back to participate in the Museum’s special event programs throughout the year. This is a two week camp offered Monday – Friday.

Jr. Roleplayers: The New Republic, 1777 – 1818 July 30 – August 10, 2018 (Monday – Friday)Ages 12 – 17 (Rising 7th – 12th graders) Register now!
Times change but adolescents have always played a part in history. Teens of today can make the past come to life by becoming an historic roleplayer and using the museum’s houses and grounds as their stage. Participants will learn theatrical techniques, dress in full costume, use old-fashioned tools and materials, and engage in historical research methods to learn how to portray a person from another time. After successful completion of the program, many Jr. Roleplayers are invited back to participate in the Museum’s special event programs throughout the year. This is week #1 of a two week camp. This is a two week camp offered Monday – Friday.